Call boxes provide emergency service to remote locations, such as along highways, in parks, and on college campuses. Such emergency service includes telephone communications to an operator who has access to the police or the fire department. In order to alleviate the problem of wiring telephone service to the call box, many call boxes use cellular phones. When a user activates a switch in the box, the cellular phone within the call box automatically dials a programmed phone number, and the user is granted telephone access to the location with that programmed phone number, such as an operator in an emergency center. The public availability, coupled with the remote locations of call boxes, make call boxes easy targets for vandals. In many call boxes, the user simply pushes a button to obtain immediate assistance. Because the procedure is so simple, vandals may press the button or even damage the box just for the "fun" of it. Likewise, thieves may wish to steal the cellular phone for its resale value. Such tampering clearly reduces the effectiveness of a call box.
Accordingly, a call box that is simple to use yet resists vandalism and theft is required.